This invention relates to methods and apparatus for applying the wire windings to stators for electric motors and similar electrical equipment (e.g., generators).
Although the invention will be explained in the context of winding electric motor stators, it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to winding other types of stators (e.g., generator stators), and that the word stator as used herein is generic to all stators which can be wound using the methods and apparatus of this invention.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,835 (which is hereby incorporated by reference herein) shows apparatus for winding two-pole electric motor stators in which each of two wire-supply needles is alternately reciprocated longitudinally through the stator and oscillated from side to side relative to the stator to progressively build up a winding on each pole of the stator. This apparatus has been found to work well, but, in some situations, to need some improvement in the density and uniformity of the resulting windings. It has been found that this apparatus (and other similar apparatus which winds on the same general principle (see also Wheeler U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,702 and Luciani U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,283, both of which are also incorporated by reference herein)) may sometimes leave an empty area near the end of the stator after several layers of wire have been laid down. This empty area either does not fill up with wire at all, or fills up irregularly and unpredictably. Indeed, the overall winding may be undesirably irregular. The finished winding is therefore not as dense and efficient as it could be.
It is therefore an object of this invention to improve stator winding apparatus of the type shown in the above-mentioned patent application.
It is another object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for winding stators with greater density resulting from more regular and more complete winding.
It is still another object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for winding stators which can achieve greater uniformity and regularity, and which methods and apparatus are readily adjusted to wind stators of various sizes and configurations.